There are many products in granular or powdered form that are currently packaged in containers. These products include, but are not limited to, infant formula, flour, coffee, sugar, and nutritional supplements, for example protein supplements. Since many of these products are stored, shipped, sold and dispensed from the same container, the container should be designed to withstand the rigors to which it will be exposed, but must be user friendly for the consumer.
Plastic containers are sometimes used to store and transport various granular materials, especially in the industrial and food sectors. Some of these containers may include a lid such that the container can be opened and closed. However, depending on the particle size of the granular product, the product may leak from the plastic container, especially in and around the area where the lid seals the container. Accordingly, while many plastic containers include resealable lids so that users may open the container multiple times to extract product from the interior of the container, often times, these resealable lids are not securely attached to the tub of the container such that the granular product does not leak from the container.
Moreover, many containers that include a resealable closure often do not provide complete closure of the container. For example, some containers known in the art utilize a protrusion located about the neck of the container to engage an opening in the closure, which secures the closure to the tub. However, when storing particulate material, this type of closure may cause leakage of the particulate product during shipping or storage. Leakage of particulate product or entry of contaminants may be exacerbated in wide-mouth containers that hold particulate material. Additionally, many lids and other closures for plastic containers have slight gaps between the lid and the tub portion of the container, which allows for fine particles or even small insects, in the case of extreme climatic conditions such as in tropical climates, to come into contact with the contents of the container.
Further, especially in the case of food products, the primary seal of the container should be tamper evident so that the contents of the container cannot be accessed before being purchased and consumed by the user. For example, other prior art closures may be opened prior to the first opening by the user. When this occurs, the contents of the container may be contaminated, which may cause the product to be unfit for consumption by the user.
Additionally, even though securing the closure to a container via protrusions located in the neck of the container to apertures located within the closure is generally known, this type of engagement may not be secure enough to prevent rotation of the closure about the neck of the container. Thus, when the closure rotates and/or shifts about the opening of the container, the particulate material may leak from the container.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a closure that more completely seals to the container in order to prevent the contents of the container from leaking or to prevent insects and other contaminants from affecting the contents of the container. Additionally, there exists a need for a closure that does not rotate about the opening of the container and that remains tamper evident prior to the first opening of the tub.
As such, the present disclosure provides a container having a tub and a closure comprising a lid and collar assembly, wherein the collar is securely attached to the tub such that the contents of the tub will not leak and further, such that the collar cannot be removed without indication to the user that it has been removed. Additionally the collar and lid form several sealing areas when the lid is securely closed and after the primary seal has been removed by the consumer thereby reducing the likelihood of external contaminants from accessing the tub. Moreover, the container of the present disclosure includes a closure comprising a collar and a lid and at least one anti-rotation element that resealably closes the container such that the product in the container does not leak between and/or during multiple uses and/or openings of the container and such that the collar and lid does not rotate about the opening of the tub.